Yellow tracks boom and bust for over 90 years

In 1918 the Melbourne Yellow Pages® print directory (or the Red Book as it was then known) was 236 pages and featured 867 business classifications. When the 2009 Yellow Pages® print directory is delivered to homes and businesses across Melbourne over the next few weeks, the directory will be 2996 pages and include 2701 business classifications

The changes to the directory over the past 90 years provide a unique chronicle of tastes, trends and economic activity. For example, the 1918 directory had a list of the city's nurses - all 203 of them. There were just 26 catering companies listed while the 2009 directory has eight pages of listings. In 1918, there were just two tourist resorts listed - Gracedale House and Kalymna Park, both in Healesville. In 2009, there are 69 listings in the Holidays & Resorts heading, along with hundreds more under headings such as Adventure Tours & Holidays, Caravan & Tourist Parks, Health Holidays & Retreats, Houseboats, Ski Centres, Tours & Resorts, Timesharing Resorts and Water Skiing Centres & Resorts.

While many categories have grown considerably over the time, others have diminished. One example is tailors which had two pages of business listings in 1918, but this year has fewer than two columns.

"Mass production has certainly had an effect on that category,'' said YellowTM Group Marketing Manager, Stephen Harvy.

"It is interesting that several companies that advertised in the 1918 directory are still advertising today. As you would expect many are household names such as Hardy Brothers Jewellers, Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, and Le Pine & Son Funeral Directors,'' he said.

As you would expect, the naming of hotels back in 1918 had a heavy tilt towards Royals and Princes. If someone said "I'll meet you at The Royal Hotel," there were 32 to choose from. In the 2009 Yellow Pages®, there are only six. In 1918, there were five Royal Oak Hotels in the directory (now there are two); there were 15 Prince Hotels (now there are four); there were four Prince Alfred Hotels (now there are two); there were five Prince of Wales Hotels (now there are none); there were 10 Victoria Hotels (now there are none); there were seven Union Hotels (now there are none).

Many headings have come and gone over the years and some have changed to reflect the times. For example, the heading Perambulators has changed to the much easier Prams.

Gone are headings for Bottle Merchants, Corsets, Dairymen, Fancy Goods, Fur Importers, Gravy Manufacturers, Haberdashery Specialists, Hay Merchants, Lightermen, Medical Electricians, Typewriters and Waggon Builders.

Some of the advertisements in the 1918 directory are now quite amusing. An ad for Bjelke-Petersen Bros, listed under Physical Culture Experts, describes how they offered a school of physical culture and medical gymnastics. Perhaps they were the precursor to current-day gyms.

In its role connecting Melbourne buyers and sellers, the Yellow Pages® print directory is used for more than 4 million searches every month on average[1], and nationally nine out of 10 searches result in contact with a business and of those, seven out of 10 result in a purchase[2].

Mr Harvy said Sensis was extremely proud of the role the Yellow Pages® print directory plays in society, helping to connect buyers with hundreds of thousands of small businesses across Australia. It continues to be a much loved one-stop-shop for just about anything people in Melbourne need.

"The Yellow Pages® print directory provides great insights into what's popular with shoppers and how local businesses are adapting to meet their needs."

"New and emerging lifestyle related headings are also providing a good guide to how people are spending their leisure time. For example, one of our fastest growing headings in terms of the number of business listings is Surfing Instruction. This year, we've also added a number of headings under Clubs, such as Parachuting, Rock Climbing and Go-Karting," Mr Harvy said

Together with the 2009 Melbourne Yellow Pages® print directory, Melburnians will this year receive a mini-edition called the YellowTMIn the Car directory. A small, glovebox size, the YellowTMIn the Car directory is a portable directory for people to use when on the go or to keep in a handy location such as the car or workshop.

"The trials of the YellowTMIn the Car directory we've conducted with consumers and advertisers over the past three years have been very successful. People love the format and the convenience so this year we are delivering it to homes and business together with the Melbourne Yellow Pages® print directory," Mr Harvy said.

With the delivery of this year's directories, Mr Harvy encouraged people to recycle their old directory by putting it in their regular kerbside recycling service.

"Last year people in Melbourne recycled an incredible 80% of their directories and re-used another 17%. This meant a garbage disposal rate of only 3%, which is a world-class result. Now the challenge is to raise the bar again and recycle or re-use even more old directories," Mr Harvy said.

The fibre content of paper used within Yellow Pages® (Metro, Regional and Local) and White Pages® directories contains an average of 45% recycled paper fibre and 27% recycled timber mill waste.  The fibre content of carton board used for Yellow Pages® (Metro, Regional and Local) and White Pages® directory covers, tabs and bookmarks contains an average of 29% recycled paper fibre and 40% recycled timber mill waste.

For more information about what can be recycled in your local area visit the www.recyclingnearyou.com.au website - bought to Australians via a partnership between Sensis and Planet Ark.

-ends-

 Media enquiries:

Red Agency, Emily Bellemore, ph: 03 9670 8350, email: emily.bellemore@redagency.com.au

Sensis, Stephen Ronchi, ph: 03 8653 7828, mob: 0417 138 649, email: Stephen.Ronchi@sensis.com.au

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About Sensis:

Sensis is Australia's leading information resource. We make complex lives simpler by helping Australians find, buy and sell. Sensis delivers innovative and integrated search solutions via print, online, voice and wireless channels to connect Australians 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our powerful, multi-channel portfolio provides an unparalleled local information source incorporating: the White Pages® and YellowTM directories; the Citysearch® entertainment site; the Whereis® location and navigation database; sensis.com.au - the search engine for Australians; Sensis 1234, the operator-assisted, premium voice information service; and The Trading Post Group's stable of weekly and monthly publications and Universal Publisher's mapping publications; and the accommodation website gostay.com.au. Sensis owns a majority shareholding in SouFun.com, China's leading real estate and home furnishings website. Sensis also recently acquired majority shares in China's leading auto sites Autohome.com and Che168.com, and leading digital devices websites IT168.com and PCPop.com.cn.

[1] Roy Morgan Single Source, monthly average July 2006-June 2007

[2] Independent research of people aged 18-64 conducted by TNS in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, October 2006-March 2007 & July 2007-September 2007.